Renewing the Attitudes of our Heart

Last night our church had our Titus 2 get-together. It is hard to get a large group of ladies together regularly because someone is bound to have a conflict. I had several who could not attend ask me to post the Titus 2 teaching or else email them the notes. I’ve broken the study into more easily posted parts.

I have been working on a series called Renewing the Attitudes of our Heart based on the verses in Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:22-24.

Romans 12:2 (ESV) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV)

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Renewing the Attitudes of our Heart

Since this is Titus 2 let’s look at the verses that it is based on. My “Baby” wanted to know when we will finish Titus 2 and what we are going to study next. He thinks we’ve spent too long (years) on these verses. I told him we would never finish.

Titus 2:3-5 (ESV)

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,

4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,

5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

I’m not sure that implementing Titus 2:3-5 should necessarily look like one “older” woman teaching a group of “younger” ladies. That is an area I’m still studying and working through. But I am sure that it does entail more than just skills like cooking and caring for children. Those skills are more suited to individual instruction anyway. Why do I think “Titus 2” entails more than just skills? Because verse 3 says “teach what is good” and then verse 5 ends with so “that the word of God may not be reviled” or in some versions “blasphemed.” Most of us aren’t going to blaspheme by our cooking and housekeeping, maybe, but doubtful. We blaspheme by our lives.

Also notice that back in verse 1 of Titus 2 it begins with Paul’s instruction to Titus to “teach what accords with sound doctrine”. We as women don’t pay much attention to this verse because it is Paul instructing Titus as a pastor. But it does apply to us also.

Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

If you’ve worked with horses you will understand the term “sound” here. Sound means healthy. A horse is sound when it is not hindered in gait, fully healthy in its legs, able to do all it was intended to do. Is your doctrine sound, healthy and good, does it enable you to glorify God in all you do?

The expressions “sound doctrine” in verse 1 and “teacher of good things” in verse 3 are actually more closely related then you might think.

“sound doctrine” is healthy teaching or instruction – didaskalia

“teacher of good things” is teacher of the right – kalodidaskalos

Notice from the Greek base word we get our word didactic, which means:

1. Intended to instruct. Or 2. Morally instructive.

Both of the Greek words encompass teaching good or healthy things. Healthy doesn’t mean in a nutrition sort of way but in the sense used in Matthew 6:22, a spiritual sense:

Matthew 6:22-23 (ESV)

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,

23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

So as women we are to teach what accords with sound doctrine and teach what is good so that God’s Word is not blasphemed. Those go together. They can’t be separated; sound doctrine is good and if it is good it is sound doctrine.

2 thoughts on “Renewing the Attitudes of our Heart”

Thank you, you are always so encouraging. I got a couple more parts up this morning. You have to see my spelling mistakes this way but at least you don’t have to hear me get tongue tied and ramble off into tangents. :0

First Things First

The most important fact necessary before reading this website is to examine yourself to see if you are a Christian. If you are not a Christian, much of this would be ‘Foolishness’ to you.
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1 Cor 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
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If you are not a Christian then I recommend reading the following:

What is a Berean?

Acts 17:11
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." NIV

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